GALLERIES > PLANTS AND TREES >
STICKY MONKEY FLOWER [Mimulus aurantiacus]
Location: Tujunga Canyon, CAGPS: 34.3N, -118.3W, elev=2,740' MAP Date: June 19, 2009 ID : 2239 [3888 x 2592]
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Location: Tujunga Canyon, CAGPS: 34.3N, -118.3W, elev=2,740' MAP Date: June 19, 2009 ID : 2240 [3888 x 2592]
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SPECIES INFO
Mimulus aurantiacus, the orange bush monkey-flower or sticky monkey-flower, is a flowering plant that grows in a subshrub form, native to southwestern North America from southwestern Oregon south through most of California. It is treated by some botanists in a separate genus from other Mimulus as Diplacus aurantiacus (Curtis) Jeps.
It grows to between 0.5-1.2 m tall, and has deep green sticky leaves 3-7 cm long and 5-10 mm broad, and flowering stems that grow vertically. The flowers are tube-like at the base, 20-25 mm long, with five broad lobes; they occur in a variety of shades from white to red, the most common color being a light orange. They are pollinated by bees and hummingbirds.
It grows in many climates and will thrive in many types of soil, wet, dry, sandy, or rocky. It even grows in serpentine, a soil that most plants have difficulty thriving in because of its unique mineral composition.
The Miwok and Pomo Native Americans used its flowers and roots to treat a number of ailments, but was particularly useful for its antiseptic qualities as it expedited the healing of minor scrapes and burns.
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